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Wow, I can't believe it has been two years since I first got interested in this game. Also can't believe that in two years I've gotten in two games

With third edition coming out I thought it would be a good chance though to reflect on the armies we have built, where we made mistakes and where we want to go with our armies.

I was planning on writing now but with the temps the way they are, I'm going to retreat to my warm bedroom and post my thoughts later. I'll let someone else have the honors.

@Col. Voss: I have an open challenge to anyone who wants to game on a Wednesday or Friday. I also can schedule a game with some advance on when you want to play. I also have terrain and you can drive down to Nagoya and I can host and even provide snacks. So there shouldn't be an excuse for only getting two games in.... Bring it on!

Well, not to steal your thunder either, I'll add to the idea of reflecting on this game. Some of my old gaming buddies posted a similar idea about when FOW had the right balance between its various elements, and it was mostly just idle musings. Still, I was very happy with 2nd edition all around. The rules were intense and detailed, but they really created a dynamic and exciting tactical game system that really doesn't have its rivals. (Not saying anything against 40k, WHFB or Warmahordes which have their own perks, but they don't excel as a comprehensive gaming system the way FOW does.)

My big bitch was with the pathetic and frivolous index. Also the book was atrociously organized. (or rather unorganized.) Rules for various elements were consistent but scattered in several sections and small passages.

As for lists, when I started this game I began with US paratroopers. I don't regret it, but in hindsight it would have been easier to learn with a more flexible list. I had my growing pains, but once I figured the system, I've loved this game above all others.

In the collecting and painting field, I've really regretted failing to put on decals on my German cats. My US armor was put together ad hoc, but on my German schwere company I should have gone the extra effort and bought new decals.

Also I've never gotten around to buying and building a rifle platoon. It is something basic I need to model Glider and Rifle platoons to support my companies (and maybe expand into US Rifle/Ranger companies).

Also I've always wanted to do some German camo, but I feel I have to invest in an airbrush. While the money isn't the issue, it is the space I can't find.

Finally, looking forward I want to have more games around Nagoya, Gifu, and Mie. I wouldn't mind having an event to keep the energy flowing on this game. I think Voss has been pushing for EW sometime. Poles, German Afrika corps and the French have been rolling around in my head as new armies. Lastly, I wish we could organize a Total War game sometime.

Otherwise, cheers. (Stay warm in Seki, Voss.) I'll see you guys playing FOW!

Well this term my Wed and Fridays are full and with moving day nearing I am afraid my minis are all packed. So no games in the immediate future for me. Next term I will have Friday afternoons and evenings off so I will have a chance to shoot up some more paras. (maybe you can try a combat jump )

For me, I started with the idea of collecting Italians (got my hands on 1st ed. mid-war) as I'm a fan of the underdogs and nobody is more of an underdog than the Italians. I was quickly informed that the local scene was late war and so put aside that idea. Not having a book, I went to the online and played around with a bunch of lists. Late war, the faction choice was easy, Germany. When I got stateside and ordered my warhammer models, I also took the time to order Fortress Europe and browse through the choices. It came down to an SS-Panzergrenadier or the Fallschirmjager. In the end I went with the Fallschirm. This was mainly due to cost, the Fallschirm were much cheaper. Cheap enough that I bought a platoon of Konigs on a whim instead of the one I had originally planned for.

Looking back on it, I think it was a mistake to start with this army. I'm not saying I dislike the Fallschirm as a choice, but for a beginner, this was a disaster. Unlike US Paras which are late war based, the Fallschirm are in every stage of the war. To make things worse, they have a huge difference in equipment that they can take depending on era and theater they are in (or in the case of D-day, you have two heavy restrictions in the same book). This made collecting a fitful choice as the Fortress Europe was so open and the rest heavily restrictive, I found balancing any future purchases very hard to fulfill. I've ended up with a motley collection of Heer/SS support as a result. It wasn't until the Burning Empires book where I finally got things set up properly. In Burning Empires, it is a fallschirm only list and you have nearly all their choices. With a much stronger Fallschirm base, the rest of the eras finally begin to work easier for these elite light infantry. Add in a hard color scheme and you have the makings for a disaster.

In hindsight, though it would have cost more, the SS-Panzergrenadier would have been a better starting choice.

Early war for me is my favorite. The more I learn about it, the more I like it. Starting my own light panzer company was a given and with Burning Empires Fallschirm, I have an idea for a fun game should I ever get others to join in. I haven't gotten the models yet but with a little trading from my large GW stock of models, they are on the way.

Future goals including organizing my Heer/SS support into something workable on its own, so at least one Schwere panzer company of konigs tigers and maybe at a much later date a panzer grenadier force or some other mobile infantry based army. Also a Greek army is one the planning board as time and money permit.

One last reflection and one that I think might be a bit out of sorts, but still good to say. As most people know, my main 40k army is the Imperial Guard. Since the newest codex has come out, I have been very unsatisfied with playing this army. I've barely brought them out for any games since the codex has come out. I couldn't really place this dissatisfaction until I got Grey Wolf and saw the huge variety of unit types and mixtures that can be place into one army, especially if you combine it with Earth and Steel. For me, FoW better represents what I want on the game board for the IG than 40k does which is sad as there are just so many good IG Black Library books out there. In another way though, it is good as any future 40k army I collect will be something more exotic than the Imperium.

@Prim: I know you posted earlier and I read it. I don't think being negative in your reflections or pointing out issues you have with the rules is bad, though if you do don't forget to mention where you want to go with it. For me, I can't think of a game set that doesn't have a frustrating rule or two. And to be fair with the hidden units, my great uncle was in an infantry platoon that got ambushed by a German machine gun. He said it was so well hidden, you couldn't have seen it even after it opened up and cut down the first squad.

@ Voss: I've got Germans and Allied armies, so I can always bring up all the stuff to play FOW. Hopefully your move goes smoothly. Whenever you have a chance. Or you can come down to my place.

I still think you did well by picking out the Fallschirmjager. While the easier armies to learn on might be Panzergrenadiers or American rifles, if you are also considering a budget, the Fallschirmjager stretch your the points per unit and also are still very competitive. Remember the different books represent the historical variations in the force. One of the great things about fallschirmjager is they served in almost every front so you get lots of variation.
As for Italians, while they are very playable, too, they would have been tough to start with. Plus there a whole lot of more bases and fewer tank options (if you consider yourself a tread-head).

EW: if you are going all German, I might consider French out of Burning Empires. I like how there are Vichy options allowing the force to play on either side. Anyway, why don't we put it off a little while longer.

While Prim removed his post, I think he brings up a good point about the ambush rules. It has been maybe the one big point of contention by FOW gamers. Some people think it is to effective and sometimes unrealistic.
On the other hand, I think if you also play the game awhile, ambushes really help AT guns and infantry lists deal more effectively with mobile tanks. There have been other ambush systems. I think the most common is having the player write down the location, or put down tokens to represent sites. I'm not sure these are better systems either.
Anyway, the ambush is there to help balance the attacker defender missions.

Actually if you put the extra units I have bought the Fallschirm became more expensive. Remember I bought a platoon of konigs. So money wasn't really the option. Just I wanted the big tanks and Fallschirm happened to let me get three. That and such a small elite list really doesn't let you get a good feel for all the different types of units.

As for early war, Greeks are on my list of things to do, that or Poles. So I will go allies in early war. Still haven't found anything interesting for late war on the allies side though.

Bit late to the party but here goes...

This new edition and the slew of recent releases has re-ignited my interest in FOW big time (not that it had been lacking). At last count I have 5 full, 1750pts LW Armies + another 1000pts or so of Russian reinforcements. I find assembling and painting them much more fun and easier than Fantasy or 40K both of which I also love.

The new rules also seem to have tidied up a few things that had some players found frustrating although I can't really say as I have only played the one game so far. Actually IMHO it is more like an upgrade, say FOW 2.1 rather than a completely new edition. The changes are nothing like what happened to Fantasy.

Anyways, for the rest of the year I hope to get a lot more games in and get a couple more armies done too.
On the shelf, waiting to be assembled and painted at the moment...

12 SS Panzer Grenadier Company
12 SS Panzer Company
Maori Infantry Company
101 SS Heavy Panzer Company

I am also looking forward to seeing what else BF are gonna put out this year. For Late War, we should see 2, maybe 3 Battle of the Bulge books and possibly the Battle of Berlin. Early war should see 'Operation Barbarossa' which pretty much completes the main campaigns in the early war period. Then again we might also see some campaign books, at last, for Mid War. I would love to see 13DBLE as at Bir Hakeim.

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! With your collection expanding so rapidly, I'm going to have to put more energy in mine, too! Mainly expanding to offer more options in games to you guys.

I also hope you do your Maoris so you can play them for EW/MW. You've got to do a Battle of Maleme airfield with Voss' Fallshirmjager sometime!

As for the rules, I think the changes are good, too, although I think the way assaults are conducted will be much different. I think it is going to adjust deployments and also make things much simpler.

And I hadn't heard about 3 books for Battle of the Bulge! That is really making me excited as an American player. Also a battle for Berlin book should be very interesting. Hodge-podge and desperate Germans fighting the veteran and vengeful Soviet army.

EW Russian front would be nice. That way my light panzers would have something to fight besides my greeks.

What all have you got built already Pikey?

As far as I know, it seems like there's a strong representation of the largest factions (USSR, US, UK and company, and Germany) but none of the smaller factions. It would be nice to see some of them come out and play too.